Landscape with Ruins of a Gothic Church

Eighteenth-century theories of the "picturesque" elicited a new appreciation for irregularity, roughness, and variety in nature, as well as the spontaneity of sketching or painting outdoors. Such direct aesthetic encounters, it was believed, aroused the senses and inspired poetic experiences. Watercolor landscapes, such as those popularized by Thomas Girtin and J. M. W. Turner, were practiced by many contemporary draftsmen and amateurs to readily record their subjective response to nature.